


Books and Family Business

by Belltree



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family, Family Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:28:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22900225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Belltree/pseuds/Belltree
Summary: Sonic has been living with the Wachowskis for 3 month. But he is still having problems to settle in completely. Tom and Maddie try their best to make him feel at home and part of the family, but it's not easy. When Tom finds out that Sonic likes to read, they decide to get him an account at the local library. This sets off an interesting chain of events, and Sonic ends up with a lot more, than just a plastic card to borrow books.
Relationships: Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski, Sonic the Hedgehog & Maddie Wachowski, Sonic the Hedgehog & Maddie Wachowski & Tom Wachowski, Sonic the Hedgehog & Tom Wachowski
Comments: 24
Kudos: 243





	1. One ring to rule them all

**Author's Note:**

> >>> This fic was renamed from "Books and Birthdays" because the new name makes more sense <<<
> 
> Just some cute stuff I need to get out of my head. There will be family fluff, angst, and book talk.  
> I'm new to this writing thing. This is only my 2nd fan fic, ever!  
> I appreciate all and every feedback! If you like this or hate this, please leave a comment because I'd really love to know.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Sonic do some talking, and make a decision

August 2020

"Do you have any idea how these work?" Tom asked. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground in Sonic's room, examining the portal rings he had taken from their little bag. They were tinkling in his palm. 

"I told you. You think of where you wanna go and throw them. You used them yourself!" The hedgehog was zipping around, doing several things at the same time, as usual. 

"That's not what I mean. How do these things know what you are thinking? Can they read our minds?" "Apparently, duh" "But how do they do that? And how does the portalling work? Is it like a wormhole or something?" 

Sonic stopped his activities and sat down across from Tom. "I have no idea, actually. Maybe. I'm not a scientist you know." 

Tom put all the rings back into the bag, except one. He held it into the light. "Are you aware how awesome this technology is?" Sonic shrugged "I never thought about it, it probably is..." 

"It totally is! We humans have only managed to travel to our moon. And have sent robots to our neighboring planet. This can get a person to the other end of the universe! This is just...wow!" 

"Well if you put it like that..." the hedgehog grinned mischievously "for an underdeveloped civilization like that, it must be pretty impressive." He laughed and dashed away, when Tom tried to grab and tickle him.

"Very funny space boy! Seriously now, imagine what might happen if one of these got into the wrong hands! The world wouldn't be save anymore! For anyone!" Sonic looked at him thoughtfully. "I guess you are right. One ring to rule them all, huh?" He took the last portal ring from Tom, put it back into the bag with the others and the bag back into it's drawer.

"What was that?" the small town Sheriff asked incredulously, "Don't tell me you've seen Lord of the Rings!" Laughing, the blue alien shook his head "Haha. No. I never got the chance. I read it." "Really? When?" "Don't know, a year ago maybe? Or two...I'm not sure. I really liked it!" Tom looked around the room. "But you don't have it, do you?" "No. I used to sneak into the Book House at night. I've read all kinds of books." Sonic slumped down next to him. 

"I kind of miss it. It was fun." He looked a bit dejected."But I can't do that anymore because I have to stay at home at night and SLEEP...ugh!" Tom snickered and put an arm around the little hedgehog. "Yes Yes I know we are such a bore!" "And...now that everyone knows about me...it feels kinda wrong to sneak into peoples places."

"You don't have to sneak in there, you know. It's a public place. Everyone can just go and borrow books."

"Me too?" Sonic's face lit up. " I can get books from the Book House?"

"It's called LIBRARY. And yes, I did say everyone, didn't I? We just need to get you a library card."

"Oh wow that's so awesome! Let's go let's go!" A blue streak zipped down the stairs. "What are you waiting for come OOOONNNNNN!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chaper will introduce a new character: the librarian. She's nice, good friends with Carl, and Tom suspects she might be just as crazy.


	2. Radioactive Racoons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flashback to before Tom and Sonic met.  
> The new librarian thinks the library is haunted.  
> Chapter#2 starts about 1 year before chapter#1 and spans over several months.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter introduces “The Librarian”, an OC. She is not that important to the story actually. But she gives me the opportunity to quote and talk about my favorite books.  
> If you don't like to read about OCs, don't let this chapter put you off, please. Trish will be quite prominent here but from then on she'll move to the background. There's a TLDR in the end notes for you.

>> July 2019

The Book House Girl worked at the Book House. Obviously. 

She had showed up about a months ago. Now she lived in Green Hills in an apartment over the flower shop and worked at the Book House. Together with Book House Guy. Before she came, it had only been Book House Guy. But something must have happened because the Book House had suddenly closed and not opened again for several weeks. Until Book House Girl came. Book House Guy still worked there but not every day, and only for a few ours.

Sonic liked to watch her.  
A: because she was always in a good mood.  
B: he liked to hear her sing. When she was doing stuff at the Book House before it opened or after it had closed, or when nobody else was there, or on Tuesdays when it was closed all day and she did paperwork, she was singing. In the evenings usually she would just sit somewhere with a book. In her apartment or somewhere outside on a bench or a blanket. But sometimes she would take her guitar and play it until it got really late, and sing all kind of different songs. And he would sit on the roof or the fire staircase and listen. 

And C: she had good cookies.

>> September 2019

Tom walked down Main Street on his usual "patrol" through town. It was a Tuesday afternoon in September, it was warm and sunny, everyone was in a good mood. On a bench in front of the library sat the new librarian. Trish. He remembered how she had told him that: "Patricia, but you can call me Trish. Or Trisha, or Pat, but not Patty. Never Patty! I don't like that."

She had taken over most of the library business after the old librarian, Doyle, had had a heart attack. Doyle was doing well again, but he had decided to finally retire and put the library, his “baby”, into new hands. Nonetheless, he still insisted to help out. He had been the librarian for as long as Tom could remember and it was a little hard for him to let go completely. Also he had to make sure that “the new girl does it right”. He seemed to be quite pleased with her, though.

Now said “girl” was sitting on that bench with a book, a cup of coffee and an open tin of cookies. But she wasn't reading. Sitting next to her was Carl and they were having a lively discussion. Curious what this was about, Tom stepped closer.

"Hello there! How's everything going?"

"Oh hello Sheriff!" the young woman smiled at him. "It's going fine! I was telling Carl about the ghost." "The what?" Tom was used to Carl talking weird stuff but he hadn't expected Trish to. 

"The young Lady just told me they might have a ghost in the library!" the older man said. 

"Well, either it's a ghost", Trish explained, "or somebody sneaks into the library at night and reads books. But that would be creepy. So I hope it's a ghost." 

"Because a ghost would be NOT creepy?" Tom asked skeptically. 

"No of course not!" the librarian chuckled like he had said something really silly. "Ghost are dead! The absence of life also means the absence of danger. All evil originates from the living. The dead are peaceful."*

"Uhhm...I ... guess so...? I never looked at it that way" the Sheriff replied. "We could start checking on the library at night, though. Just in case it's not a ghost." 

"Naaah!" Trish waved him of with a smile. "I'm not even really sure it's actually happening. It's more of a gut feeling. Maybe I'm just imagining it." She shrugged.

"Or it's the Blue Devil!" Carl butted in. Tom groaned. "Carl, you've got to stop bugging people with this!"

The older man pulled a crumpled sheet of paper from his pocket, unfolded it and handed it to Trish. "One day I'll catch it. It'll show them I'm not making this up!" 

The young woman examined the sketch of a blue "something" that looked like a 3 year old had drawn it. She nodded. "I believe you." "Wait, what? Come on Trish, don't encourage him!" "No really! I know this. It steals my cookies!" 

"Ha!!" Carl exclaimed, "I'm not the only believer Sheriff! One day I'll convince everybody!" 

Tom pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “You've got to be kidding me!”

“Oh, speaking of cookies, would you like one?" The librarian reached for the tin and offered it to Tom. It was empty. For one moment she looked disappointed, then she laughed. "See? I told you it steels them!" 

Defeated, Tom continued his patrol. He shook his head. Was this whole town going crazy?

From that point on, Carl would regularly show up at the library to have a tea with Trish. And talk about his adventures with the Blue Devil. She was the only person in town who seemed to truly believe him after all.

>>December 2019

On a cold December evening, Tom handed in a few books for Maddie. He had been the last patron of the day and now he was following Trish through the library, while she put today's returns back on the shelves, and made small talk.

“Uh...Tom, I'd like to ask you something but it might sound weird” the young woman grinned at him. 

Tom laughed. “Just shoot, it cant be that bad.”

“OK, so...” she smirked “...how come you smell like adventure?”.

“Oh, look at that! I was wrong!” He shook his head. By now, he was pretty much used to Trish's unexpected offhand remarks. Usually something she "read in a book once". 

“I smell like burned cookies actually. Because that's what happened in our kitchen this afternoon.”  
He hesitated. “Maybe I shouldn't ask but, why does adventure smell like burned cookies again?”

“It doesn't, actually. Adventure smells like the smoke of bonfires burning in the distance. With a hint of cinnamon. Easy to confuse.”**  
“Ah! And you know that because...?” “I read it in a book once.” "Why am I not surprised."

She went back to the stacks on her cart and Tom remembered something he had been wondering about for a while now. “How are things with your ghost, by the way?” he asked. “I was just wondering...you never mentioned it again after that day when Carl showed you his sketch.”

The young woman turned around and looked at him but didn't answer immediately. Like she wasn't sure what to say. Then, she took another book from her cart and checked the numbers on the spine. “OK, well ... to be blunt, I didn't mention it because I didn't want to be treated like a loon. Because that's how most of the people in town treat Carl. And that is the reason he keeps coming here by the way. Because I LISTEN to him without laughing about him. So he's the only one I mentioned it to because he wouldn't laugh about ME.” She returned the book to it's rightful place between the others.

Tom wasn't sure what kind of answer he had expected. But definitely not that. “So you still DO believe there's a ghost in here?”

Trish took a deep breath and moved the cart to the next aisle. “Yes, actually, I do” she said. “Don't look at me like that, Tom. I'm not out of my mind! Something is going on in here, I know it. Doyle doesn't see it but I do. Things disappear, and show up again at a totally different place. And sometimes stuff disappears completely, just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “Or I find things, that weren't there a moment before.”

Now that the librarian had started talking, the words just flowed out of her. Tom was surprised about the way HOW she said it. Any other person would have been scared to find their workplace haunted. Trish instead, was excited. And very much so.

“Sometimes I feel a breeze in here although all the windows are closed. Or I come into a section that I just straightened out and now it's a mess, although nobody was here except me. Sometimes I leave a room, come back, and something has changed, I don't know what it is, I just know it DID.“

“And yes, of course I know how that sounds. And that it would be so easy to explain. That Doyle did it and forgot, that a patron did it and I just didn't notice, that the windows are leaky, blahblahbla.  
But I KNOW that's not it! Like I KNOW somebody reads the books at night. But I could never prove it.”

“That's just...Wow!” Tom was pretty much lost for words. “I know, right? It's so cool!”

“Cool? Trish, if that is what you are experiencing here...I mean...how on earth are you not completely freaked out by that? It sounds like the beginning of a horror movie!”

She laughed. “Oh come on! It has been like this from the start. Probably a lot longer but Doyle never noticed. If it was malicious, something bad would have happened by now. It just bugs me that I can't find out what it is.”

Tom pondered telling her that actually something bad HAD happened before she came here. And if this WAS a horror movie, the ghost probably would have caused Doyle's heart attack to lure her here and … possess her, or ... whatever. He decided against it. He didn't want to MAKE her freak out after all.

“And stuff like that happens to others too, you know! I hear them talk about it. But they don't worry about it at all. I don't know how long this has been going on in this town but it must have been long enough for you people to get completely used to it. THAT is what's actually weird around here, if you ask me.”

Tom had no idea what to say to that, so he just waited, while a couple more books found their way back onto the shelves. After a minute, the young woman carried on: “And the most frustrating thing is that everybody keeps telling me it's the raccoons!” she stated. “You really want me to believe that Green Hills has a special kind of hyper intelligent radioactive ninja raccoons? THAT would be plausible?”

“Wait a minute … radioactive? What the hell?” Tom looked at the librarian like she had just gone nuts.

“Because it's freaking BLUE Tom!” she laughed. “And it glows; at least that's what Carl says. And last time I checked, raccoons are neither blue nor glowing, are they.”

“So … what are you saying? Not only do you believe the library is haunted, you believe in Carl's Blue Devil, too. And you think it's the same thing? Am I getting this right?”

“Exactly!” The cart was now empty and she went back to the desk to park it there. “I know, I know” she chuckled. “I know it sounds bananas, I get it!” She leaned against the desk. “It's complicated to explain but I know I saw … something. On the fire escape of my apartment, outside the window of the library, in here, once, outside somewhere a few times...” 

“And WHAT is it you saw?” Tom interrupted her.

“I don't know, it's difficult!” She shrugged. “I never REALLY see it. It's the feeling of being watched. It's a movement in the corner of my eye. When I look over, it's gone. I couldn't have described it, but when I saw Carl's sketch...it clicked!”

Tom sighed. “I don't know, Trish. I really don't know what to think about this. As long as it was just Carl, it seemed obvious that it was only in his head. And now you told me all this and I don't know what to make of it.” He scratched his head. “And I'm sorry, I really am, but I can't make myself believe that we have daemons in our forests or ghosts in our library. Or radioactive raccoons.”

“Well...fair enough.” The young woman put on her coat and grabbed her bag. “I'm totally aware how this sounds.” She turned the lights off, ushered Tom out the door and locked it. They were standing on the deserted street in the cold December air.

“I hope I didn't weird you out too much.” She grinned.  
“Don't worry about it, you just surprised me because I thought that the smell of adventure would be the weirdest thing I'd learn tonight.” He laughed. “Turns out I was wrong again.”  
“I'm always happy to surprise.”

\- - - -  
“Hey! You're late!” Maddie called from the living room when Tom entered the house. Did something happen?”  
“No, I talked with Trish and forgot the time.” He joined his wife on the couch.  
“Must have been an interesting talk.”  
“Oh boy it was!” Tom grinned. “She told me that I smell like adventure, because that smells like burned cinnamon or something.” Maddie sniffed his shirt. “Well, I guess you do.”  
“Also the library is haunted. Maybe the hole town is.” “Oh really?” “Yup.”

Only half a year later, Tom would find out that it actually (kind of) was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming up next: Things turn out to be more difficult than expected.
> 
> Book quotes:  
> * “The City of Dreaming Books”  
> ** “The 13 ½ Lives of Captain Bluebear”
> 
> TLDR: Trish, the new librarian, moved to Green Hills in June 2019, almost a year before Tom and Sonic meet. She notices strange things happen in the library. At first she thinks it might be a ghost, but later she is convinced it's Carl's Blue Devil. Tom doesn't believe her.


	3. To the Library!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tom and Sonic head out to the library.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, now you know the librarian. From now on, she'll only be a supporting role. This story is not about her, after all. Be prepared for more book talk, though. And also songs.

Sonic stood on the sidewalk, fidgeting and looking at his shoes. 

The whole way to the library, he had been dashing back and forth between the building and Tom. Impatiently tapping his foot and urging him to please move faster. But when they arrived and Tom opened the door to enter, the hedgehog was suddenly glued to the spot.

“What are you waiting for? I thought you couldn't wait?” When Sonic didn't answer, Tom let the door fall shut and cowered down in front of him. “Hey! Whats up?”

“I'll have to talk to the Book House Girl, right?” “The Book House Girl? You mean the librarian? Yes, we need to talk to her so she can give us a card for you. Why?” “Do you think she will be mad?” “Why would she be mad?”

Sonic sighed and finally lifted his gaze to look at Tom.“You know, when I sneaked into the library, and I was reading, sometimes the stories were really really exciting. And I got distracted, and didn't notice she was there until it was almost to late. And a few times it was really really close, and I think I scared her.”

Tom smiled and ruffled the quills on the teen's head. “Don't worry about it you little library ghost. I'm sure she won't be mad. But you might wanna apologize for the messes you left for her to tidy up, and for the cookies you pinched.” Sonic's eyes grew wide. “How do you know about that?” “I'm the Doughnut Lord, I know a lot of things. Should we go in, then? Or do you want to stand here all day?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so short. Next will be longer.


	4. Who is Anne?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic and the librarian meet officially for the first time. And Sonic gets confused.  
> Also, this chapter has a song.

"OK then," Tom said, "go find the librarian and tell her why we're here. Also, no running in the library!"

Still a little nervous, Sonic made his way through the aisles. This was the first time he was here 'legally', without having to hide. There wasn't anyone on the first floor, so he went up the stairs to check there. The first floor was only books and magazines. Upstairs where more books but also CDs, movies and games. She didn't seem to be here, too, so he decided to go back downstairs to check again. But then he heard her.

The voice was low and muffled, but it was undoubtedly her. She was singing, typical. He followed the voice.

Run boy run! This world is not made for you  
Run boy run! They're trying to catch you  
Run boy run! Running is a victory  
Run boy run! Beauty lays behind the hills

He had heard her sing this many times. She seemed to like it. He had also heard it on the radio, but the way she did it was different, and better, especially with her guitar.

Run boy run! The sun will be guiding you  
Run boy run! They're dying to stop you  
Run boy run! This race is a prophecy  
Run boy run! Break out from society

In the past, the text had been very true for him. This world wasn't his, he had found Green Hills, but he didn't belong. But now things were different, he had a life here, and it had turned out that running wasn't his only option. In the back of the building was a hallway, leading to the right. He walked around the corner.

Tomorrow is another day  
And you won't have to hide away  
You'll be a man, boy!  
But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!

There were several doors along the hallway, with signs on the walls next to them. Private, Materials, Cleaning Supplies. Every time he had been in here, they had been locked. Now one of them was open and electric light came shining out. The sign said "Archive, Staff Only". 

Run boy run! This ride is a journey to  
Run boy run! The secret inside of you  
Run boy run! This race is a prophecy  
Run boy run! And disappear in the trees

Tomorrow is another day  
And when the night fades away  
You'll be a man, boy!  
But for now it's time to run, it's time to run!

This made him think about the day he had send Eggman to the mushroom world. That evening Tom and Maddie had invited him in, there had been food and a lot of talk and he had crashed on their couch, instead of returning to his cave. When he woke up the next morning, everything had changed. 

Sonic stepped into the room. Strangely enough, there weren't any staffs in there at all. Instead it was filled with shelves full of boxes. And cabinets. The Book House Girl was standing in front of one, sorting little cards into a drawer. She had her back turned to the door.

"Ahem...excuse me."  
"Aaahh!" The Book House Girl yelped and spun around. She almost lost her balance but caught herself by grabbing hold on a shelf. In a blur, Sonic dashed out of the room into the hallway. He pressed his back to the wall.

"Oh no! No no no you scared her! Again! You scared her again and now she'll be mad for sure! Idiot!!" He took a deep breath. "OK, it's ok, calm down Sonic, pull yourself together, you wuss!"

Reluctantly, he peaked around the door frame. 

\--

Trish's heart was pounding from the sudden fright. But she almost laughed when a pair of pointy blue ears appeared in the door, followed by the rest of the hedgehogs head. His eyes were huge. Boy, that was cute! She had heard about Sonic, the Blue Devil, becoming a (more or less) official citizen of Green Hills, of course she had. That had been the day when the haunting had stopped. Which could only mean that Carl's Blue Devil and her ghost had indeed been the same entity. Since then, she had seen him around town many times, together with the Wachowskis or on his own or playing with the other kids, but not from up close, until now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." The voice was very small and timid. She did her best to restrain herself from saying "Aaaaawww!". 

"It's OK kiddo, you just startled me. I didn't expect anyone to be behind me. You're not supposed to be in here, you know. There's a sign at the door."

Sonic took a step back from the doorway, looked at the words, and back to her, his face like a question mark.

"The 'Staff' are the people who work here. And the sign means, that only those people are allowed in this room" Trish explained. "But it's fine, what can I do for you?" "I would like to have a library card, so I can borrow books." "I can help you with that, let's go downstairs." She joined Sonic in the hallway and locked the door.

\--

Sonic was still feeling sorry for startling the Book House Girl like that. But it seemed that Tom had been right. She wasn't mad at him. That was good. When they walked down the stairs he decided that he should introduce himself properly. “My name is Sonic, by the way, I live with the Wachowskis.” “Yes I know” the woman answered. “I've heard of you. My name is Trish.” “No it's not. Uh...I mean...it is?” The Book House Girl had reached the end of the stairs. She turned around and looked at Sonic who was standing a few steps further up. Their eyes were at the same level now. Puzzled, she cocked her head.

“I'm very sure it is. Has been as long as I can think. Why?” “I thought your name is Anne.” “Why would you think that?” “Tom told me that.” Sonic was confused. Had Tom played a trick on him? He felt hurt, his ears drooped.

“My name is totally not Anne. And the only other person working here is Doyle. There must have been a misunderstanding. What exactly did Tom say?”

“He told me to go look for Anne.” That was so mean! Tom knew how worried he was about the Book House Girl being mad at him and still he had pranked him like that.

“He sent you for Anne? Are you sure?” she inquired. “Yes! He said 'go find Library-Anne'. I am sure!”

The woman snorted and clasped her hand over her mouth. Sonic realized that she was struggling not to laugh. Great, now he hat made a fool of himself. Thanks Doughnut Lord! This sucked, maybe he should just leave. But before he could do that, the Book House Girl cleared her throat and sat down on the stairs next to him.

“As I thought. It was a misunderstanding” she said. “You misheard him. I'm quite sure he said 'LIBRARIAN' not 'Library-Anne'. Librarian is the name for a person that works in a library.”

“I thought that was 'Staff'?” The hedgehog was confused and he didn't like it. 

“Everybody who works somewhere is staff” the Book House Girl explained smiling. “But librarian is a special word for library workers.”

“Ohhh!” Sonic's ears perked up as the penny dropped. “Librarian, I get it! So Tom didn't trick me!” He was laughing now, and that made Trish laugh again, too.“I feel totally stupid, though.“ 

“There's absolutely no need for that. It's a very common mistake” she assured him. “Now let's fill out the form to get you your card, shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, the library-Anne joke was probably lame. But I couldn't resist.
> 
> The library will be visited quite often in this story, as I am using it as a backdrop for the different events.
> 
> Next chapter is also library. Then we will head home for some family fluff.
> 
> "Run Boy Run" Woodkid


	5. Bureaucracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filling out forms is more difficult that you'd think, when you're an hedgehog from space.  
> Sonic gets some books to read and Tom thinks he's not a dad. Yeah, sure!

Tom was leaning at the circulation desk. He was reading a magazine but looked up, when he heard the two of them approach.  
“I see you found her.”  
“Sure did!”  
“Told you she wouldn't be mad!”

The librarian seemed puzzled. Sonic squirmed. Oh man, this was awkward. Why did Tom have to mention it?

“Uh...you know...I want to apologize...because...” he muttered. Then he took a deep breath and blabbered out: “I-used-to-come-in-here-at-night-to-read-and-sometimes-I-left-a-mess-and-maybe-I-scared-you-and-I-took-your-cookies-and-I'm-sorry.”

Trish looked down at him with a frown.  
“So that was you?”  
“Yes.”  
“Darn!”  
Sonic averted his gaze. “I'm sorry.”  
“Nah, it's cool.” He heard the smile in her voice and looked back up. “It's just that I had been hoping it was a ghost. Because that would have made us a haunted library and that would have been really awesome.”

She was grinning now and the teen felt like a heavy weight had been lifted from him. He grinned right back, his usual bravado returning like it had never been gone.  
“Well ... I'm afraid an incredibly handsome alien hedgehog is all you get.”  
“Hm, I guess it'll have to do.” 

The woman took a sheet of paper from a drawer.  
“Now you have to hand over your sensitive private data into the clutches of bureaucracy.”  
“Pardon me?”  
She laughed “I need Tom to fill out this form.”  
Sonic pouted “I can do that on my own!”  
“I'm sure of that, but as you are a minor, Tom would have to sign it anyway. And if you want, you can go and look for the books you want to check out, while he's doing it.”

“Deal! See you later Doughnut Lord” the young hedgehog dashed away and disappeared between the shelves. “No running in the library!!” “Oops, sorry!” he skidded to a halt and looked around him. What should he choose?

–

Tom handed Trish the filled out form, but she looked it over and frowned. “Tom, I need all the fields filled out. The family name and date of birth is missing.” She handed the paper back.  
“Do we really need that? I don't know them.”  
“I have to put something into the computer or it won't let me make an account. Can't you ask him?”  
Tom shook his head. “I'm quite sure he doesn't know it himself.” 

They hadn't talked about that topic much. They'd found out that Sonic didn't remember his parents. The first person he knew had been Longclaw the owl. The birth date would be difficult, too. The hedgehog had been a foundling so it was probable that he didn't know it. And even if he did, the odds were very low that his home planet had exactly the same calendar as earth.

“You can let him use your account, or Maddie's.”  
“I'd rather he had his own, you know. Being a member of the library, a part of the community. It's important for him I think. He's still insecure about fitting in.”

A while ago, Sonic had started to spend time with the local kids. But he didn't seem to have made any real friends among them yet. He had grown up as a loner. It had been involuntary, but that's the way it was. They had realized that he had severe trust issues, reluctant to letting people close, always expecting the worst, always fearing to lose it all again. They had tried to install some rules for their household but Sonic had had difficulties to stick to them and there had been clashes. He just wanted to give the kid a home.

“I see. Well, it's just a formality, you can put whatever. Make something up. I can just put 'Smith' and January 1st.”  
“I'm not sure I want to do that either. Ugh...I'm sorry for being difficult. I want to do this right.”

The librarian smiled at him. “I understand that. You're trying to be a good dad. I think it's awesome.”

“Whoa...what? I'm not...I mean...” Tom sputtered “Dad? What do you...He lives with us, yes, but we're not... I'm not his dad.”

“OK OK, if you say so” Trish laughed and lifted her hands in mocked defense. “Why don't I put the books in your account, just for today. And you take the form home and decide what to do, together.” 

“I think that's a good idea. Now, where did that little demon go?”

\--

It had turned out that Sonic was pretty much unable to chose just a few books. If he had had his way, he would have taken almost all. So Trish had to help out and picked some for him.

“These are all good for kids of your age. And they are all quite different from each other, regarding topics, as well as genre. When you're done, tell me what you liked or didn't like about them and we'll go from there.” 

She handed the scanned books to Sonic, who clutched them to his chest like a treasure. “Huh...wasn't I supposed to get a card?” he asked.

“Not today kid, I'm sorry. We had a little problem with the formalities. We'll talk about it at home.” 

It was obvious, that Sonic didn't like this outcome very much. “And we come back here tomorrow and get it” Tom consoled him. 

“Well, I think I can make an exception and wait for one day” the hedgehog replied gracefully. “At least I have enough reading material for now.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not quite happy with this chapter, to be honest. I rewrote it almost completely, twice, because it got way too sad and angsty at first. I might rewrite it again. We'll see.  
> Please, tell me what you think.


	6. Names and Dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filling out forms it not that difficult when you have humans to help you.
> 
> Tom makes Sonic nervous, Maddie takes control and Tom is having dad feels.

Names and Dates

On the way back home, Sonic was tempted to just run back and start reading. But he felt it might have been a little ungrateful, to just leave Tom behind, after he had had that amazing idea about the library. And he had taken him there and gotten him books.

So he stayed next to the Doughnut Lord, a spring in his step, impatient and hyper as usual, and talked about the books Trish had picked out and what he thought they might be like. He also talked about how he had accidentally startled the librarian in the archive. But not about the misunderstandings with the 'Staff Only' room and the nonexistent 'Anne'. Totally nobody needed to know that. 

It wouldn't have made a difference, though, because Tom wasn't listening anyway.

Instead, Tom was looking down at Sonic, watching him, caught up in his own thoughts. Trish had called him Sonic's dad. And he had instantly denied that. But... the little hedgehog had become such an important part of their lives. It just happened. He remembered how Sonic had showed them his cave, a few days after his fight with Robotnik. The boy had done his best to assure them how cool it all was, had showed them all his things. And they had told him that, yes, it was all really cool and impressive. But afterwards they looked at each other, and without saying a word, they both new. “We have to get him out of there!”

And it was great! Tom had expected it would be more difficult, more stressful. And sure, it wasn't always easy, but they seemed to be on a good way to figure it out. And... to be honest... one could call Sonic the equivalent to a foster child. And yes, it felt like family. But... being a parent... was kind of a scary thought.

–

“Hey Maddie, we're back! I'll be in my room!”

Back at the house, Sonic wanted to run up to the attic immediately but Tom stopped him. “Wait! Put your books away but come back down here, please. We need to talk about something.”

“Huh, okay, I'll be right back.” The hedgehog dashed up the stairs.

\--

Sonic put the books down on the table in the attic. But he hesitated to go back down. 'We need to talk about something.' He remembered Tom mentioning that at the library. Something they'd talk about at home. Probably the reason why he hadn't gotten his card today. Formalities, right. “What does that even mean?” he asked aloud, and before he knew it he was caught up in an argument with himself.

“Could it be something serious? It didn't sound very serious. But what if it is?”  
“What if it's not? It could be something good?”  
“Why would it be?”  
“Why wouldn't it?”  
“It probably isn't!”  
“Gosh! Stop doing that! You're driving yourself crazy again! This isn't helping!”  
Whatever it was, it would be best to just get it over with. He headed down the stairs.

–

When Sonic came back to the kitchen, Maddie was sitting at the table, waiting while Tom was making tea. 

“Soooo, what's this all about?” he asked wile sauntering in, “Sounded serious.” 

Maddie knew the hedgehog well enough by now to recognize that he was nervous. Although he did his best, not to let it show.

“Yeah, I would like to know that, too!” she said and patted the chair next to hers, signaling Sonic to come sit beside her. “What is it, Tom?”

“It's NOT serious. Important, I guess, but not serious” her husband answered, as he walked over to the table with a tray. He sat down at the opposite side and handed each of them a mug of tea. Maddie noticed Sonic relax a bit, but he was still fidgeting. Under the table, she took his hand. The fidgeting stopped. “Well then, just spill it already, will you?”

“All right.” Tom took a folded sheet of paper from the back pocket of his jeans. “To get a library account for Sonic, Trish needs us to fill out this form.” He unfolded it and placed it on the table so that Maddie and Sonic could read it. “I started to do it there but I hit a bit of a snag, as you can see.”

Maddie looked at the form, the fields for 'Family Name' and 'Date of Birth' were empty. So that's what this was about. Sonic saw it, too. He nodded.  
“Yes, I see. I don't know this. I don't remember my parents at all, as you know. I have no idea what my family name is, or if I even ever had one.”  
“What about your birthday? Do you remember what season it was or anything?”  
“I didn't even know that birthdays were a thing, before I came to earth. So, nope.”

“Mh-hmm... " Tom sipped his tea. "I thought you might say that. So what do we so?" Sonic shrugged. "Sorry, I'm at a loss here."

Maddie decided she didn't want to wait for her boys to work it out and took the initiative.

“I don't actually see what the problem is. We already figured out that Sonic is about 15 years old, right?”

Sonic had been on earth for ten years. He had carefully kept track of that. He had been really small when he arrived. But from what he had told them, his abilities had seemed to match a 5 year old earth kid. So they had agreed on 15.

“That tells us that you were probably born in 2005. Now we only need the date.”  
“But I don't know it!”  
“So you chose one!”

The blue hedgehog looked at her in amazement. “You can do that?”  
She smiled at him. “Sure! Usually the date of birth is put on file when someone is born. But in some cases, when that didn't happen for whatever reason, you have to make an estimate, or just make one up.”

“So... which date would you like?” She looked at Sonic over the rim of her mug. “Any ideas?”

“Huh, difficult.” Musing about it, Sonic started drinking his tea. After a minute without a word from him, Tom spoke up.

“We could chose a date, that has a meaning to you. Like the day you came to earth.”  
“I don't know what date that was. And I'm not sure I'd like it.”  
Maddie understood that. It had been the day when Sonic had lost his home and the woman that had been like a mother to him. The day he had suddenly found himself stranded on a strange new world alone. Not exactly a date to celebrate.

“What about the day Tom and you first met?” she suggested.  
The young alien was still pensive, but already in the mood for witty remarks again, apparently. “You mean the day your husband tranqued me and stuck me in a dog crate before I was almost shot by a killer drone?” he asked with a smirk.  
Maddie laughed. “Well, if you put it that way.” 

“It was also the day of our first bar fight!” Tom retorted. “Well then, what about the day after that.”  
Sonic raised an eyebrow. “You mean when I was blown up several times and almost died on Main Street.”  
“I mean the day you kicked some super villain butt, but okay.” Tom leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, pretending to pout. “Maybe YOU want to come up with an idea then?”

Sonic took another sip of tea and stared into his mug. “I actually really like these ideas. But I was thinking about the day after that. That was the first day that everybody knew about me. And I started to become a real part of Green Hills. It was... like... the first day of a new life? So it's some kind of birthday, right?” He looked up at Tom and Maddie. “What do you think?” Both of them were smiling.

“I think it's awesome!” “Yes, absolutely!” Maddie ran her hand over the hedgehogs head. “Let me check what date that was.” She got up and went over to the kitchen to look at the calendar. She laughed when she found the right day. “Oohhh you're gonna like this, guys!” She came back and brought the calendar with her. “The power outage was on the 2nd of May. You showed up in our garage at the 3rd, and got to San Francisco and back here on the 4th. So the day after that is the 5th of May. Which makes your new birthday the 05.05.05!” Sonic beamed, “Neat! I like it! And so easy to remember!”

“Okay then, you can write that on the form.” She handed him a pen and he carefully put the numbers into the respective field. Then he noticed something. “Oh, there's still the name problem.” 

Maddie looked at Tom and raised her eyebrows in an unspoken question. Tom smiled and nodded. Maddie pulled the form over to her and reached for the pen. “What problem?”

Sonic watched her as she started writing the letters into the last empty field.

W A C 

He gasped in surprise when he realized what she was doing. His eyes darted to Tom, to Maddie, and back to the form. W A C H O W S K I

S O N I C W A C H O W S K I

For a moment he just sat there, like paralyzed, letting it sink in. Maddie put her arm around him and felt him tremble. “You okay?” she asked softly.

Sonic blinked and took a deep breath as if he had been holding it before. When he spoke, his voice was low and uncertain. “A-are you serious?” “Of course we are serious” she answered.

His eyes found hers, bright and full of wonder, just like when he had seen his new room for the first time. “You'd really... I mean, this is... oh wow!”

“Well...” Maddie ran her hand over his head again, trying to lighten the mood. “Only if you want it, of course. I'd understand if you didn't. I know Wachowski isn't exactly the coolest name to have.”

“Maddie!” Tom protested in pretend dismay. “You are breaking my heart!” He wagged his finger at her. “It's a good name! A very old name with a lot of family history!”

He laughed and looked at Sonic. “So, what do you think?”

“It's amazing!” The teen jumped up onto his chair. “Ahahaha, it's amazing you guys!” He dashed right across the table and threw his arms around Tom's neck. Before the man got the chance to return the gesture, Sonic was gone again, now hugging Maddie.

“I guess that means you like it?”  
“I love it!”

He sat back down, this time fidgeting with excitement. “Thank you! This is fantastic!”  
Maddie pulled him into another hug. “You are very welcome.”

–

It was late when the two adults finally got a chance to talk in private, more or less. All three Wachowskis were in the backyard, enjoying the nice summer night air. Tom and Maddie were having a glass of wine, and Sonic had fallen asleep in the hammock, book in hand.

The hedgehog would usually try to talk them into a movie night every evening. But today he hadn't even mentioned it, and instead had started reading right after dinner.

Tom looked over to the softly snoring teen. “It's unbelievable how adorable that boy is, isn't it?” he asked in a hushed tone. “Oh my God, yes!” his wife agreed, carefully keeping her voice low. “You know the puppy eyes? It's almost unbearably cute when he does that.”  
“Of course I know the puppy eyes, he's trying that on me every other day! So hard to resist!”  
“Tell me about it!” 

“You know,” Tom grinned, “just imagine how cute he must have been as a baby!”  
“Ooohhh, dawww!” Maddie squealed. “I wish I could have seen that.” She looked at her husband.

“Is it okay for you? The name thing I mean. It just felt like the right thing to do. You don't feel like I forced you into it, do you?”  
“No no It's fine!” he assured her. “I knew it was an option, but I hesitated because I wasn't sure what you'd say. Or he. What if he wasn't ready for something like that. But it went very well, right?”  
“Yeah! I'm so glad about it.” Maddie yawned. “ I'm going to bed. You?”  
“Give me a minute, I'll take him upstairs.”

–

Carefully, Tom lifted Sonic out of the hammock and carried him inside. The hedgehog made a soft trilling sound and snuggled his face into Tom's shirt but didn't wake up.

It hadn't always been like this. In the beginning, Sonic had been completely unaccustomed to interpersonal physical contact. He had flinched when being touched unexpectedly. And the first times they had hugged him he'd just gone stiff, unsure how to react. But that had passed, and today the boy loved cuddling more than anything. 

When he had fallen asleep on the sofa, and they had tried to pick him up, he had startled awake immediately, still so used to always sleep with one eye open. But that, too, had passed.

On one hand, Tom was amazed by the trust the little hedgehog put in them. And he knew they would do their darnedest not to break it.

But at the same time, it made his heart ache to see Sonic so insecure occasionally. At first it had been really bad. When he had made a mistake, no matter how little, he had looked at them like he expected to be kicked out again. It had gotten better over time, but it kept happening. They had talked about it, assured him they would never do that, and he had said he believed them. But the fear lingered. Sonic tried to hide it, but Tom still saw it, sometimes, for a moment, behind those emerald green eyes. And he hated it. He wanted Sonic to feel save and secure and at home. He wanted him to feel save enough to let his walls down, to dare to just be himself, all the time, without worrying he might screw up and be rejected. He wanted to make Sonic feel as save as he actually WAS, because Maddie and he both knew they would never ever EVER in a million years give the little hedgehog up again. And not being able to do that felt like a failure.

But maybe today was a step into the right direction. Now Sonic was officially a Wachowski. A part of the family. No, that wasn't right. Sonic had been a part of this family right from the start. Tom hoped that sharing a name would help him to see that too.

They had reached the attic and Tom put the teen down into his bed to tuck him in. He carded his fingers through the quills on Sonic's head and smiled when the young hedgehog made that soft trill again.

And maybe, he had been a little too quick to dismiss it, when Trish had called him his dad. Maybe.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I noticed that I'm better at describing thoughts and emotions than at writing dialogue. Interesting. And I feel like I'm using too many kommas. I'll have to work on that I guess.
> 
> I love your comments, people. Please leave more ^_^


	7. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course we are a family  
> It finally clicks for Tom, took him long enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote the ending of this chapter a little.  
> 

When Sonic woke up, it was still dark. And he was in his room. Tom or Maddie must have taken him upstairs. The thought made him smile. He really liked when they did that. Sometimes he'd pretend to be asleep, so one of them would carry him up to the attic. It didn't work most of the time, but sometimes it did.

Sonic didn't feel like falling asleep again. Where was the book he had been reading yesterday? He didn't see it on the table with the others so it was probably still downstairs. The hedgehog quietly lowered the attic staircase and went to get it. The girl in the book, Laura, had just left her house in the dark. She wanted to visit a boy from her school, who she suspected to be a witch, and ask him for help because her little brother had been cursed. And Sonic really wanted to know how that would go down. (1)

He found the book on the kitchen table. And next to it was the form from the library. Today, they would go and hand it in.

He picked it up and noticed a lot of fine print on the back:

 _Green Hills Library (GHL) strives to maximize access to all library materials. GHL and its customers share a responsibility for the collection and as such, the library expects its customers to return borrowed materials on time and to treat them with care. To help ensure that materials are available for all, GHL charges fees for overdue, damaged and lost materials._ (2)

 _With a library card you can:_  
 _Borrow books, music, movies and more_  
 _Place holds to reserve materials_  
 _Download eBooks, digital magazines, movies and music_  
 _Access eLearning resources and online homework help._  
 _Use research databases to access magazine and newspaper archives, business directories, and other specialized content_  
 _Reserve computer time_ (3)

Ooohh that was neat! There was so much more to the library than just borrowing books! He needed to check that out as soon as possible!

The text then carried on with all kind of rules. Like that you had to live, work, go to school or own property in the City of Green Hills to get a card. That you had to have it with you to borrow stuff and you couldn't give it to somebody else to use. And how long the different things could be borrowed and how high the fines would be, if you didn't hand them back in on time or lost them.

He turned the page over and studied the filled out fields again.  
Name: SONIC  
Family Name: WACHOWSKI  
Gender: MALE  
Date of birth: 05.05.2005  
Address: 55 Plymouth Road, Green Hills, Montana

It was 3 months now, that he lived here. In this house, with his own room, his own bed. They had just surprised him with it. He had never figured out how they had managed to get all his stuff here without him noticing. And they wouldn't tell! No matter how many times he had asked. He snorted. Spoilsports!

He remembered how he had woken up in his new room the first morning.

_He opened his eyes to a wooden ceiling, and for a moment he didn't know where he was or what had happened. Then it all came rushing back and the realization made his chest tight and put a lump in his throat and suddenly it was all just too good, too beautiful, too kind, too much to bear and it made his heart hurt, his eyes burn and he started crying because it was the only thing he could do. He lay in his bed, curled up under the covers, shaking, sobbing, without knowing why. All the times he had cried before had been out of sadness. And he didn't know why he was doing it now, he shouldn't be doing it, everything was good. It was wonderful! But all that wonderfulness was just so big, too big to wrap his mind around it, and so overwhelming that he couldn't help himself but cry._

Luckily it had been really early. And when Tom came up to the attic hours later to wake him, he had been back to his usual bubbly self. But it still happened sometimes. Mostly it was little things, and it didn't really make any sense. A hug, a kind word, an unexpected gift, or just a completely normal moment, like having breakfast in the morning, suddenly made him think about how amazing it all was, how happy he was, and it made him tear up. So weird.

Like now. Looking at this stupid piece of paper. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

They were sharing their home with him, their food, their lives. And now, their name too.

It was almost like... almost like a family. Or maybe not almost.

“Is it that? Are we a family?” A kind of family, sure. But Tom and Maddie weren't his parents, were they. “They sure DO act like it sometimes!” like when they told him to go to bed or brush his teeth. When they tucked him in at night or carried him upstairs after he had fallen asleep on the sofa. You wouldn't do that with someone who was just a housemate, right?

A few times, when they kept reminding him of their ridiculous rules, like being at home on time or staying in the house at night, he had almost said it as a joke. “Yeah, alright 'Dad'!” But he had always caught himself. Because it didn't feel like a joke. It felt too... true... to be a joke, but... was it?

–

Barefoot and half asleep in a wrinkled shirt and shorts, Tom shuffled into the kitchen. It was early and still almost dark, but he wasn't surprised to find Sonic sitting cross legged on the counter. You never knew when the boy would get up. Sometimes before dawn, sometimes around noon. But it made sense that he would be early today. He and Maddie would go into town together to run some errands, get groceries and, of course, go to the library to get Sonic's card. He was greeted with a soft “morning Tom.”

He mumbled back a “morning buddy”, took the coffee pot out of the machine, went over to the tap and filled it with water. “You know the counter is for glasses, not for asses.” He chuckled lightly, waiting for a quick-witted remark. But it didn't come. The hedgehog just sat there, quietly, watching him. That was unusual.

Tom poured the water into the coffee maker, put the pot back under it and grabbed the coffee tin from the cupboard.

“Uhm...Tom?”

“Is something up, kid?” He put some coffee powder into the filter and switched the machine on. It came to live with a happy bubbling sound.

“Nnnno. Nothing's up, it's just... uhm...” Tom waited for Sonic to carry on, but he didn't.

“It's just what?”

“It's just...I wanted to ask...uh...” another pause. Tom put some bread into the toaster and waited some more.

“Are we... I mean... can we..ahm..have pancakes for dinner?” Tom got the very VERY strong feeling that that was not what the hedgehog had actually meant to ask. But what could he do except answer?

“Sure, if Maddie and you bring eggs from the store. But I was actually planning to make spaghetti.” “Oh! Okay, spaghetti is cool too.”

The toast was done and Tom took it out of the toaster. He went to the fridge to get butter and jam.

“Uhm... Tom?” 'Okay, second try' Tom thought.

“You know... I was thinking...and...” Sonic stopped again. Tom stopped spreading butter on his toast, turned around and looked at him.

“Sonic” he said softly. “Whatever it is, you can just ask me. It's fine. It's gonna be okay.”

“Okay.” The young hedgehog took a deep breath and let it out with a huff like he was bracing himself.

“Are we a family?”

“What?” Tom had kind of expected Sonic to tell him that he had gotten himself into trouble or something. But this question stumped him for a second.

“Because it feels like it, you know” Sonic was talking very fast, like he wanted to get it over with before he lost courage. “Before we met, I sometimes imagined how having a family would feel like, or a home. And this really feels like that and I thought maybe...” he stopped when Tom pulled him into a hug.

“What the hell are you talking about? Of course we are!” And with saying that, everything was suddenly as clear as day. And Tom understood that he had been fooling himself the whole time. This was a family, their family, and of course he felt like a parent because that's exactly what he was, what they were. And there was no denying anymore that he loved this boy like a son, because that's was he was. And it was just as easy as that.

“Of course we are a family. What else would we be.”

Sonic all but melted into him, all tension suddenly gone. Tom rested his cheek on the boys head and hugged him a little tighter.

After a moment he noticed his shirt getting wet and realized the teen was crying. “Shhh, it's ok. I got you. Everything's ok.”

Sonic felt like a warm bright light was filling him up inside. He put his arms around Tom and hugged him back.

–

Maddie entered the kitchen and found her boys in a tight embrace. Okay, that wasn't usually part of the morning routine. She waited a moment but it looked like Tom and Sonic weren't planning to let go of each other any time soon. So she just grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured herself some coffee. When she looked back at them, they were both staring at her dumbfounded, teary eyed, still clutching each other. “Sorry, am I interrupting something?”

“Uhm...no.” Tom said sheepishly, “Everything's cool.”

“Yeah, we are just doing our totally bad ass 'heartfelt emotions' thing.” Sonic added. “We're cool.”

“Yes, we are.”

“All right then.” Maddie smiled and turned to leave. “Don't let me keep you from it. I'm having my coffee on the porch.”

–

Tom watched his wife disappear around the corner when he felt the boy in his arms shaking. For a second he worried that Sonic was crying again, but the unmistakable snorts told him otherwise. When he looked down, the hedgehog was completely in stitches, his face so alight with joy that Tom couldn't help but crack up as well. They laughed their heads off for what felt like minutes until Tom was finally able to get a grip. “Hey kid you feeling better?” Sonic was lying on his side on the counter, curled up and holding his sides, gasping for air. “Hahaha, yes. But now my belly hurts.” “Mine too.” “Man that was so embarrassing.” “I don't think it was.” Tom tore two paper towels from the roll on the wall and handed one to the teen so they could wipe the tears of laughter from their faces. “I wonder what Maddie thought when she saw us.” “Something like 'What the hell' probably” Sonic answered with a chuckle. He was still out of breath. He wiped his face again and looked at Tom. “Thank you!”

“No, thank you kid!” “For what?” “For making Maddie and me very happy.”

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (1) The Changeover, Margaret Mahy  
> (2) Thank you, Brooklyn Public Library  
> (3) Thank you,Toronto Public Library
> 
> Next chapter: Maddie and Sonic go to town.


	8. Welcome to the Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sonic and Maddie go to the library.  
> Yeah that's pretty much it.

They had been to the post office and the dry cleaners. Now they were at the grocery store and Sonic was getting impatient.

“Give me the list. I'll get everything!” He held out his hand.  
“Why? Let's do it together.” “Ugh...but you are going so slow. Tom and I always do it like that. We are in and out of the store in a minute.” She shook her head and smiled “Why would you do that?” “It's effective?” “Yeah, and boring.”

“No it's not!” Reluctantly accepting that Maddie wouldn't let him have the list, Sonic climbed into the shopping cart and sat down, looking at her. “Why would it be?”

“Shopping by the list is boring. Oh look, pineapples!” She took one and handed it to Sonic. Skeptically he turned the prickly fruit in his hands. “It looks weird.” He sniffed at it. “Hmm it smells good, though.” “It tastes good, too.”

“You running around and gathering the groceries won't make me go any faster. You know that I like to browse the store to see what they've got.” Maddie slowly wheeled the cart through the produce section, putting bananas and potatoes into it. “Or if there's something new.”

“OK, fine. Can I at least have the list to tell you what we need?” “Alright, here you go.” “Bananas, check, potatoes, check.” “What's next?” “Bread.”

While they made their way through the store, Sonic had to admit to himself that he actually didn't mind Maddie's slow, very slow, way of shopping. She wouldn't just take the things she had written down beforehand, but also some others, like the pineapple, a weird looking dark red orange juice that was on sale and a new brand of cookies. And she let him have a say in the choices, like if they should take the same cereal as always or give a different one a try.

Little by little, the cart got fuller. “You better get out of there.” Maddie grabbed Sonic under the armpits, which made him squirm and giggle, and lifted him out of the cart. Instead of dashing off, like she had expected him to, he stayed beside her while they walked to the checkout. It made her think back to one of the early times she had been at the grocery store with him. The day he had taken her hand for the first time.

_Of course she had told him to stay close. And of course he hadn't done that. She wasn't worried, though. The store wasn't large enough to get lost. And suddenly he was right there beside her, actually more like hiding behind her, clutching her hand. It turned out that a group of kids had noticed him and, curious as they were, had started questioning him. At first it had been flattering, being the object of interest and showing them what he could do. But it had quickly become overwhelming, especially when the questions had gotten personal. “Where are you from? Why are you on earth? How did you get here? Where are your parents?” So he ran back to Maddie, who shooed the kids off, and he didn't let go off her hand till they got home._

“Can we finally go to the library now?” “Yes yes.” She took one of the shopping bags and handed the other one to Sonic. “The library is next.”

–

Trish was sitting at the circulation desk and looked up, when they entered the building. “Hey! Here come the Wachowskis! How are you guys. Figured it out?”

'The Wachowskis'. Hearing her say that made Sonic feel all warm and tingly inside. He was a Wachowski now. He almost started laughing again when he remembered Tom and him cracking up in the kitchen this morning.

He followed Maddie to the desk. “Yep, we had a little family council yesterday and figured it out.” She took the form from her purse and handed it to Sonic, so he could give it to Trish.

“Did you sign it?” “We sure did.” Maddie ran her fingers through the quills on the hedgehog's head. He squinted his eyes and smiled. She did that all the time. He doubted she was aware of how often she actually did it. It seemed to have become a habit. And he loved it.

He held the form out to Trish but pulled back, when she reached out to take it. “What will you do with it?” “I'll put it in our files.” “So you keep it? Oh.” he looked dejected. “Did you want to keep it?” she asked. “Uh... no it's OK.” he said a little too quickly and handed it over.

She started to type on her computer. “You know, I can make you a copy to keep.” “Yeah why not.”

Sonic did his best to play it cool although his mind was anything but.  
'It's just a piece of paper!'  
'But it's the first real family thing I have!'  
'Come on don't be such a baby.'  
'They wrote their name on it and signed it and everything.'  
'This is just pathetic'  
'Shut up!'  
'You shut up you baby.'

“Sonic?” “What?” Apparently Trish had asked him something and he hadn't even noticed, too caught up in his inner conflict. 'Oops' 'Yeah, well done, making yourself look stupid.'

“Oh sorry, I was just thinking.”

“I asked if you already started reading the books I gave you?” “Yes, I'm reading The Changeover now.” “And what do you think of it?” She was done typing and took a small box from one of the drawers.

“I liked it so far, but...be honest with me, is this a love story?”  
She laughed and leaned back in her chair. “Well, it is a story about growing up, about finding yourself, about change, about taking a risk to protect your family. And, yes, it is also a bit of a love story.”

“Ugh... I had a feeling you would say that.”  
“Well, I have to admit, it's not the cliché reading material for teenage boys. But in my opinion, when it comes to books, it's always good to take a step out of your comfort zone and try something different.” She gave her office chair a push and let it roll over to the copier. She put the application form on the glass and pressed a button which made the machine rattle and glow. Another push of the chair brought her back to the computer.

“But, if it turns out it's not your thing, you can just put it away and switch to something else.” “I think I'll give it a chance.” “Cool.”

“Now you have to make a very important decision.” The librarian looked at him sternly and opened the box. “Don't take it lightly, it will affect your experiences in this library for the rest of your life.”

Sonic looked at her nervously. “Really?” “Yes, because now you choose your card.”

One after the other, she pulled out the different designs of cards and placed them on the desk in front of him.  
The library logo on green background.  
A dragon sleeping on a heap of books.  
A reading owl with glasses.

“Let me see...maybe I still have one of the...” “This one.” She looked up when she heard him say that, then down to where he was pointing.

“The owl?” “Yes, please.” “Good choice. The symbol of wisdom, knowledge and vigilance.” Trish scanned the card, the computer made a contented little beep and linked the patron ID to the new account. “Here you go. Welcome to the library.”

She handed the card to the young hedgehog and he took it from her with a smile that could light up a whole room. This was the best part of her job, it was sometimes boring and repetitive, but it also made people happy, sometimes very happy, like now.

He cleared his throat before he spoke. “Thank you.” “I'll transfer the books you got yesterday from Tom's account to yours. Remember to bring them back in time.” “I will.”

Maddie ran her hand through Sonic's quills again. “Let's go. It's almost twelve and I've got to work in the afternoon. Thanks Trish, till next time.”

She turned to leave and Sonic was about to follow her when the librarian caught his attention. “Wait, don't forget your copy.”

He took the sheet of paper from her and looked at it. At the three different styles of handwriting in two different colors of pen. Creased from several times of folding and unfolding. Wait... He looked up to the woman behind the desk.

“I think you gave me the original.” “I don't know what you are talking about.” She winked at him. “No way I would do that.”

He looked at the form again, then back at her, his eyes shimmering. “Thank you so much.” “My pleasure kiddo. See you soon.” “Not when I see you first! Bye!” “Bye!”

He turned around and dashed to the door. “I'm coming Maddie, wait for me!” “No running!” “Sorry!”

Trish couldn't help but smile, when she watched the two walk past the window hand in hand. Gosh this family was so adorable.

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why but this was difficult to write.  
> Should get better from now on.  
> I have no idea how long this thing is gonna get in the end, I have so many ideas.


End file.
